Rapid Growth in Population its Causes and Effects - Report Example

Rapid increase in Population Table of Content I. Introduction II. Rapid Growth in Population its Causes and effects III. Conclusion IV. Works Cited Introduction Generally cause and effect are looked upon as separate and independent events, one following upon the other. But further consideration will reveal that they are in fact integral constituents of one and the same continuous occurrence. The mistake is to take what is usually called "cause" in isolation as a separate event and to relate it to another separate event called "effect." We can then speak about cause and effect, but only as constituting the one event or many events. The concept of cause and effect is quite interesting and relevant to our practical life as well. This proposition can be explained by giving various examples from our practical life. As said earlier not a single event of a cause or effect can be taken in isolation. Let us take the example of growing population of world. The growth of population is extra-ordinary and unbelievable. There are various reasons of this quick increase and also this rapid increase brings many effects. Rapid Growth in Population its Causes and effects Improved living conditions, discovery of remedies for many fatal diseases and various other things are cause of such rapid and sustained increase in population. If we take this rapid increase in population as cause of some multiple effects then we can describe numerous effects of this increase. These effects are: • Stress on Resources • Unemployment • Poverty • Increase in Racist and Ethnic Conflicts • Increase in Crimes • Degradation of Ethical Values Let us analyze these causes and effects in detail. In early 20th century "population bomb" predictions received a considerable audience. Experts correctly noted the unprecedented size and growth rates of world population, and argued that, un-checked, the sheer number of people would outstrip available resources, produce unmanageable environmental degradation, and create rivalries for space that could usher in a series of bitter wars. Concern about world population trends, though still lively, had lessened by 1990, in part because growth rates had slowed. Some experts claimed that resources could expand with population growth, and noted that historically population expansion had often been a major source of innovation and creativity. Some also claimed a racist element in population bomb forecasts, insofar as these involved Western pundits urging people of color to have fewer babies. Population bomb forecasts had not been discounted entirely, and environmentalists picked up some of their concerns. Some scholars argued that human societies had fully run out of room to expand pending as yet unrealized space travel. Each previous period of world history had featured expansions into relatively empty spaces. With frontiers gone by the late 20th century, organized societies bumped against each other far more than ever before, while immigration inevitably meant movement not into relatively unsettled terrain, but into highly populous, often suspicious host societies. The implications for potential conflict, environmental exhaustion, and efforts to impede human movement were considerable, if this major factor is viewed as a basic distinction between society future and society past. As technology continues to take over production, postindustrial society will feature service occupations dealing with people and information exchange, as not only agriculture but also industrial production is handled largely by machines. Social depends on technical knowledge, not money or landed property. Cities are changing and are becoming centers for meetings and recreation, not basic points of exchange and production. Population-bomb relies heavily on a single basic casual factor - technology or population determines all, and everything falls into place once this factor is established. The nationalist movements that won independence for most of the peoples of Africa and Asia usually involved some degree of mass mobilization. Peasants and working-class townspeople, who hitherto had little voice in politics beyond their village boundaries or local labor associations, were drawn into political contests that toppled empires and established new nations. In virtually all of the new states that have emerged from the European colonial empires, ethnic rivalries and communal violence have been endemic. In some cases, the unnatural creations of the colonizers did not long survive the transfer of power to indigenous leaders. Third World leaders hoped for, the most formidable and persistent were the spiraling increases of population that often overwhelmed whatever economic advances the peoples of the new nations managed to make. Factors making for sustained population increases in already quite densely populated areas of Asia and Africa had begun to take effect even before the era of high colonialism. Food crops, mostly from the New World, had contributed to dramatic population growth in China and India as early as the 17th century. They also helped sustain high levels of population in areas such as the Niger delta in West Africa, despite heavy losses of both males and females as a result of the slave trade. The coming of colonial rule reinforced these upward trends in a number of ways. It ended local warfare that had caused population losses and, perhaps more significantly, had indirectly promoted the spread of epidemic diseases and famine. The new railroad and steamship links established by the colonizers in order to foster the spread of the market economy also cut down on regional famines that had been a major check against sustained population increase since ancient times. Large amounts of food could now be shipped from areas where harvests were good to those where drought or floods threatened the local inhabitants with starvation. With war and famine - two of the main checks, identified as major barriers to population increase much reduced, growth began to speed up, particularly in areas such as India and Java that had been under European control for decades. The death rate declined, but the birthrate remained much the same, leaving more and more sizeable net increases. Improved hygiene and medical treatment played little part in this rise until the first decades of the 20th century. From that time, efforts to eradicate tropical diseases, as well as global scourges such as smallpox, and to improve sewage systems and purify drinking water have given further impetus to sharp upswings in population, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. In Africa, by contrast, which began with relatively low population levels, given its large land area, very high birthrates and diminished mortality rates have resulted in population increases of alarming proportions in recent decades. In most Third World countries there has been considerable resistance to birth control efforts aimed at bringing runaway population growth in check. Some of this resistance is linked to deeply entrenched social patterns and religious beliefs. In many Third World societies, procreation is seen as a key marker of male virility, and the capacity to bear children, preferably male children, continues to be critical to the social standing of adult women. In some cases, resistance to birth control is linked to specific cultural norms. Hindus, for example, believe that a deceased man's soul cannot begin the cycle of rebirth until his eldest son has performed special ceremonies over his funeral pyre. This belief both increases the already considerable pressure on Indian women to have children, and it encourages families to have several sons in order to ensure that at least one survives the father. Before the 20th century, the high incidence of stillbirths and high rates of infant mortality more generally meant that mothers could expect to lose many of the children to whom they gave birth - ten or 12 deaths of 15 or 16 children conceived was not unheard of. Beyond the obvious psychological scars left by these high death rates, they also fostered the conviction that it was necessary to have many children to ensure that some would outlive the parents. In societies where welfare systems and old-age pensions were meager or unknown, surviving children took on special urgency because they were the only ones who would care for their parents once they could no longer work for themselves. The persistence of these attitudes in recent decades, when medical advances have greatly reduced infant mortality, has been a major factor contributing to soaring population growth. In the early decades after independence, many Third World leaders were deeply opposed to state measures to promote family planning and birth control. Some saw these as Western attempts to meddle in their internal affairs; others proudly declared that the socialist societies they were building would be able to take care of the additional population. As it has become increasingly clear that excessive population increase renders significant economic advances impossible, many Third World leaders have begun to reassess their earlier attitudes toward birth control. A particular cause for alarm is the fact that in many Third World countries a high percentage of the population is under the age of 15 (as high as 40 percent in some countries) and thus dependent on others for support. But even for those who now wish to actively promote family planning, the obstacles are staggering. In addition to the cultural and social factors making for resistance discussed above, Third World leaders often find they lack sufficient resources and the educated personnel required to make these programs effective. High rates of illiteracy, particularly among women, need to be overcome, but education is expensive. Perhaps no form of financial and technical assistance from the industrialized to the developing world will be as critical in the coming decades as that devoted to family planning to defuse the global population bomb. Conclusion As population increase in the rural areas of Third World countries outstripped the land and employment opportunities available to the peasantry, mass migrations to urban areas ensued. The massive movement of population from overcrowded villages to the cities was one of the most dramatic developments in the postcolonial history of most Third World nations. Ambitious youths and the rural poor crowded into port centers and capital cities in search of jobs and a chance to win the "good life" that the big hotels and restaurants and the neon lights of the city center appeared to offer to all comers. But because Third World cities lacked the rapidly expanding industrial sectors that had made possible the absorption (with considerable difficulty) of a similar migrant influx earlier in the West, they were often dead ends for migrants from the rural areas. There were few jobs, and heavy competition for these ensured that wages would remain low for most workers. The growing numbers of underemployed or unemployed turned to street vending, scavenging, and huckstering, begging, or petty crime to survive. The idleness and despair of the urban underclass has been a prominent theme in the novels and plays of Third World writers. Works Cited Noonan, Harold W. Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Hume on Knowledge. London: Routledge, 1999. Read, Rupert, and Kenneth A. Richman, eds. The New Hume Debate. London: Routledge, 2000 Locke John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Ed. Peter N. Nidditch . Oxford: Clarendon, 1984. Read More